U.S. government shutdown has trickle-down effect

A partial shutdown of the U.S. government due to gridlock in Congress over a short-term spending extension will cost the U.S. economy about $300 million per day, or $1.5 billion per week, but lost productivity could worsen if the political standoff in Washington drags out, IHS said. The decline is small compared with a multi-trillion dollar economy, but exacerbates the drag to the economy from sequestration earlier this year. The global market research firm said a week-long shutdown could trim 0.2 percent from its forecast of 2.2 percent growth in the fourth quarter, in line with what economists at last week's FTR Associates' conference in Indianapolis opined. An ana...